Monday, August 22, 2016

King of Jordan's book: "Our Last Best Chance: A Story of War and Peace"

How come people have not read or mocked this book by the buffoonish king of Jordan? Here are some gems from the book:

On handling Arab-Israeli war: “One afternoon my brother Faisal and I were hiding in the basement with assorted aunts, cousins, and other relatives”. (p. 18)

On Karmah battle of 1968: “Although the Fedayeen took part in the fighting, the victory was achieved by the army”. p. 22

According to this guy, Nasser placed hydrochloric acide in King Husain's nose drops to kill him--kid you not. p. 23 (he then tells the hilarious highly unlikely story of the dead cats, according to which the King's chef wanted to poison the king so he experimented first on cats in the palace).

"Arabic is my first language…And yet before too long I had mastered English and I picked up a British accent that has stayed with me”. (p. 26)

On his high school heroism: "So we locked arms and pounded each other on the back.. I jumped onto a bed and leaped at my antagonists, knocking him over. He fell and hit his head hard on the floor...but because I had taken down a much bigger boy, the others began to show me a little more respect”. p. 32)

Comic by Terry Furry, reproduced from "Heard the One About the Funny Leftist?" by Cris Thompson, East Bay Express

As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.

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